


Glow

by fallenangel218



Category: NCIS
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-12 11:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4477202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallenangel218/pseuds/fallenangel218
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ellie is held at gunpoint while she and Tim are serving an arrest warrant, Tim decides to get to the bottom of her strange behavior. When she finally tells him, will Tim  be able to keep her secret?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> NFA Nepal Auction fic for hazelmom - she wanted a happy fic... this is inspired from one of her WEE prompts (I had the pleasure of picking her prompt set :) ) - in which Ellie tells Tim a secret that she hasn't told anyone else - including Jake - and Tim isn't sure how to help her with it.

_~NCIS Squad Room, 1500 hours~_

  
  
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Ellie hooked a left toward the restrooms. Tim and Gibbs looked on, while Tony went to his desk and sat down. Gibbs raised an eyebrow at Tim, who shrugged. Ellie had been excusing herself all morning to use the restroom, and Tim was starting to get concerned that she wasn't feeling well. He shook off the notion as he sat down at his desk. He had a preliminary report to finish and get to Gibbs. 

  
Ellie came back a few minutes later, looking paler than when she went in. Gibbs raised an eyebrow as she sat down at her desk and took a can of ginger ale from her desk drawer.  
  
"You okay, Bishop?" Gibbs asked.  
  
"Just a little nauseous. I'll be all right.," she said with a small smile.  
  
Gibbs nodded and turned back to his work.  
  
\-----  
  
Tim finished his report and hit 'print.' he and Ellie got up at the same time, and met at the printer. He got a glimpse of her report as he picked his up. He turned his head slightly toward her as she came up to the printer.  
  
"You have to redo this," he whispered. "It's full of errors."  
  
"What?" she whispered back.  
  
"Gibbs will be pissed if you hand him this report." He whispered the parts he'd seen that were erroneous, and Ellie promised she'd fix them. She took the copy back to her desk and made the fixes Tim suggested. When she printed the finished copy and handed it in to Gibbs, he read it and smiled.  
  
"Good work, Bishop."  
  
"Thanks!"  
  
Tim looked up as Ellie went back to her desk, beaming. He knew something was up with Ellie, and if he didn't find out what it was, she was going to make an even bigger mistake than screwing up a report.  
  
**~*~*~*~*~*~**  
  
_One week later..._  
  
  
Tim trudged tiredly into the squad room, a few minutes late. Gibbs didn't bat an eyelash as Tim fell into his desk chair, and booted up his computer. Ellie, he noticed, had not arrived yet.  
  
He had been covering for Ellie all week for her reports and mistakes in the field, even earning him a head slap or two from Gibbs. He was sure the man thought he was incompetent, or that Tim was off his game. Today, Tim decided that he'd confront Ellie privately, to find out what was going on with her. He simply couldn't cover for her anymore, without knowing what was up.  
  
If she ever came into work.  
  
As if he'd willed it to happen, the elevator door opened, and Ellie stepped out, looking pale. She smiled and sat down at her desk. Gibbs didn't bother to look up. She'd only been 10 minutes late.  
  
Tim raised an eyebrow as Ellie glanced up, and she quickly brought her eyes back to her computer screen.  
  
"Boss," Tony's voice rang out, bringing Tim back from his musings. "The BOLO we put out on Lt. Bates finally got a hit. Metro spotted him going down into a subway station near G street."  
  
"Tim, take Bishop and check it out. DiNozzo, put out an alert to all subway stations in the District... Bates isn't going to get away this time."  
  
Tim jumped up and picked up his pack. Ellie followed him into the elevator, her own pack hanging from her shoulder. He'd confront her after they busted Bates.  
  
\------------  
  
They drove around all day, tracking hits from Tony's alert - at least seven reports came in from 10 different Metro stations, with reports that Bates had exited a train on their platform. Tim was about to give up, until they arrived at their latest call - an apparent sighting in a station near the Mall. He and Ellie got out of the car and made their way down into the subway station. As they made their way to the office to question the manager, a commotion arose down by the platform, and Bates pushed through the crowd and started running.  
  
Tim and Ellie ran at top speed after Bates. The station had quite a few platforms, to account for trains going to different stops in the city. As they rounded a corner, they'd realized that Bates was too far ahead of them, and they lost him in the crowd.  
  
"Ellie, go that way and see if you can flush him out. I'll go to the left."  
  
Ellie nodded and jogged to where the turnstyles were letting people onto the platform. She waded through the crowd of people, as if she were just another passenger. She finally broke free of the gaggle of passengers, and her eyes darted around. Bates was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Tim.  
  
Suddenly, there was a commotion to her left. Bates had pushed his way through the tourists and ended up in the same spot as Ellie.  
  
"Freeze, Bates," she said, whipping out her gun and pointing it straight at him. "NCIS - you're under arrest."  
  
Bates complied, and Ellie moved closer, easing her handcuffs out of her coat. As she reached for his hand to cuff him, he grabbed her wrist and whipped her around in front of him. Her SIG was now in his hand, and pointed at her side.  
  
At that moment, Tim came running around the corner, gun drawn.  
  
"Drop the gun, Bates."  
  
"Drop yours, Fed, or I'll shoot this pretty thing, and everyone else."  
  
Tim felt his hand start to shake. He locked eyes with Ellie for a split second. She looked desperate and terrified.  
  
"Nobody has to die today, Lieutenant... just drop the gun, and we'll go and talk about it."  
  
Ellie suddenly whimpered in fright... something Tim had never heard her do before.  
  
"Please, for the love of God, don't shoot me," she said, near tears.  
  
Her pleading was distraction enough for a Metro security officer to hit Bates from behind. Ellie scrambled out of his arms as Tim lunged forward and subdued him. He looked up at Ellie as he put his knee in Bates' back. She had tears streaming down her face, and she was moments away from crying hysterically.  
  
The arrival of Gibbs and Tony was a relief. Tony hauled Bates to his feet and toward the steps leading up to the street. Tim went to Ellie's side, and she buried her head into his shoulder as the tears fell. Gibbs started to make his way over, but Tim gave his Boss an 'I'll take care of her' look. Gibbs nodded and turned to go and join Tony at the car.  
  
Ellie brought her head up a moment later, looking almost composed.  
  
"Are you all right?" Tim asked gently.  
  
"Y-yeah, I think so."  
  
"Come on, let's get out of here. I'll take you back to NCIS."  
  
  
**~*~*~*~*~*~**  
  
Ellie kept quiet all the way back to the Navy Yard. When they finally arrived, Tim knew that it was time to talk to her, while they were in the privacy of the Charger. He parked the car in the lot, killed the engine, and turned to her.  
  
"Can we talk for a minute?" he asked gently.  
  
"Sure. What's up?"  
  
"You haven't been yourself this week. You've come in looking sick every day, and when one of us comes to you, you either zone out or get really emotional. And then before, with Bates... you were begging for your life. You've been in that situation before, and I've never seen you react that way."  
  
Ellie took a deep breath, and dabbed at the corners of her eye with a tissue.  
  
"I just want to know you're okay... that's all."  
  
Ellie made eye contact with Tim.  
  
"When Bates was holding me at gunpoint... it wasn't just _my_ life I was begging for."  
  
"We were both trying to stop him from shooting other people."  
  
"No Tim... that's not what I mean." She reached out and took his hand, and placed it on her stomach. She looked into his eyes, and realization slowly started to dawn on him.  
  
"You're... you're pregnant?"  
  
Ellie nodded nervously, and let his hand go.  
  
"Ellie, that's great news!"  
  
"Tim... I haven't told Jake yet... I-I'm scared to tell him. He made it clear that he never wanted children. I'm so scared of how he's going to react when I tell him."  
  
"Ellie, I've met Jake... I'm sure he'll be thrilled, even if he said he didn't want kids before."  
  
"I can't tell him, Tim... not yet." Another thought dawned on her, and her eyes went wide. "You _can't_ tell Gibbs or Tony! I don't want them to look at me as fragile because I'm pregnant."  
  
"They're going to notice when you start to show, Ellie."  
  
"I"ll deal with it then... but for now, I don't want them to know, all right? Please, Tim... do this for me?"  
  
Tim smiled and gently squeezed her shoulder.  
  
"Okay, I won't tell them."  
  
"Thank you!"  
  
"Anytime. You might not want to tell Abby, either... she has a history of, well, not being able to keep things from Gibbs."  
  
"Maybe it's best that I don't tell her yet."  
  
Tim nodded in agreement and looked at his watch.  
  
"We'd better get inside before Gibbs comes looking for us."  
  
Ellie nodded, and they made their way inside.  
  
**TBC...**


	2. Chapter 2

_** Two weeks later...  ** _

Tim sat quietly at his desk, trying to finish up a case report he'd started the night before. Distractions forced him to leave it for the night and revisit it this morning. Every so often, his eyes flickered up to Gibbs, who was shooting death glares in his direction all morning. 

Things had been tense around the bullpen since Ellie swore him to secrecy about her pregnancy. The only problem Tim was having was that he was constantly having to cover for her, and because of it, he'd been on Gibbs' bad side for about a week. He'd been the recipient of frequent head slaps, had been given the crap assignments at crime scenes, and had taken the brunt of Gibbs' frustrations more than once. 

Today wasn't getting any better; it was almost 10:00, and Ellie still  hadn't  arrived. He was waiting for Gibbs to order them to call her or something, but he sat silently, going over Tony's  finished  case report. 

The elevator dinged (for the tenth time that morning) and Tim brought his eyes up, and was relieved to see Ellie step out of the elevator. It had only been a couple of weeks since he'd found out she was pregnant, and she was far from showing, but her features were already starting to change slightly.

"Where have you been, Bishop?" Gibbs said with annoyance, without bringing his eyes up from his work. "You're three hours late." 

"I wasn't feeling well this morning,  Gibbs. I'm so sorry I didn't call in sooner to tell you I was going to be late." 

Gibbs set down his report and rose from his chair. He made his way to Ellie's desk and loomed over her.

"The next time you walk into this squad room three hours late without calling me, I'm going to write you up. Are we understood?" 

"Yes." 

"Good. Get to work on your  report,  both  of you," he said, motioning to Tim as well. "It's not normal for me to have DiNozzo's report on my desk first."

"Hey!" Tony spoke up from his desk. "What's that supposed to mean, Boss?" 

The conversation was interrupted by Gibbs' ringing desk phone. He picked it up, listened to the person on the other end, and hung up without a word.

"Gear up. Dead Lieutenant in Norfolk." 

Everyone started to get up and gather their gear - except Ellie.

"Is something wrong, Bishop?" Gibbs asked as he picked up his own backpack.

"I'm still not feeling so well, Gibbs. Can I stay behind?" 

Gibbs turned to Tony and threw him the keys.

"You and McGee gas up the truck." He turned to Bishop. "With me. Now." 

Ellie got up and followed Gibbs to the elevator. He didn't say a word until the doors closed and he hit the emergency stop.

"What's going on?" he asked immediately. "You and McGee have been hiding something from me, and my gut says it's got something to do with you." 

"I--I can't tell you." 

"Are you and McGee--"

"No! No it's definitely not that! I can't believe you would insinuate that I would cheat on my husband, or that McGee would cheat on Delilah!"

"Hey! Calm down, would ya? That's not what I was thinking." 

Ellie tried to calm herself down, but her chest was heaving in anger. How dare he ask her a question like that! She looked up at him again to give him another piece of her mind, but instead gave him a look of confusion when she saw the grin on his face.

"Why are you grinning at me? You never grin like that, Gibbs." 

"When did you find out?" he asked.

"Excuse me? About what?" 

"The baby." 

Ellie wanted to deny it, but the look of shock on her face that he'd guessed her secret ratted her out. 

"I'm seven weeks in." 

"Congratulations," he said, smiling warmly. His smile faded when he realized she wasn't smiling back. "What's the matter?" 

"I haven't told Jake yet," she confessed. "He told me after we got married that he never wanted kids, and I've never been able to change his mind. I'm so scared of how he'll react." 

Gibbs put his hands gently on her shoulders. 

"He might have said he doesn't want children, but when he holds that baby in his arms when he or she is born, that thought won't ever cross his mind again." 

"But how do I tell him  _now_?"  Ellie asked. 

"Just tell him. He's going to take it better than you think he will." 

Ellie nodded. 

"Thanks... I feel a little better now."

"Good. Now come on, we have a crime scene to get to." 

Ellie smiled as Gibbs turned the elevator back on and they headed down to the garage to meet Tim and Tony with the truck.

** NCISNCISNCISNCIS **

Ellie didn't say much of anything on the drive to Norfolk. Her conversation with Gibbs ran through her head. Should she chance telling Jake, or should she wait a little longer? Eventually he'd have to know, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to tell him. 

By the time the MCRT truck jerked to a halt at the crime scene, Ellie was relieved to be feeling better for the first time in two weeks. She went around to the back of the truck, where Tim was distributing supplies. She reached in for her gear and pulled out the camera. 

"Not so fast, Probette," Tony said. "Gibbs assigned me to photos. You're on bag and tag with McOrganized over here."

" Someone  had to organize this truck," Tim said as he hopped down, ready to go. "We spend more time looking for stuff than we do actually processing the scene."

Ellie handed Tony the camera and the three of them approached the crime scene. It was the body of a teenage girl - identified to be the  daugher  of a Marine. The body was leaned up against a tree. It was obvious to them that the girl was killed somewhere else, and brought here.

Tony snapped a couple of pictures.

"I hate these ones," he said grimly as he stared at the girl. She looked so innocent, so  peacful . It was hard to imagine that she'd met with a violent end.

Ellie bent down next to the body and started to look for trace evidence that would help them find her killer. She bagged a few fibers that didn't belong to any of the clothes the girl was wearing. She scanned the body up and down, looking anything at all she could find. Her eyes suddenly stopped and rested on the girl's jeans. There was a dark spot between her legs.

"Oh my God," she said, stumbling backward. Tim and Tony joined her. 

"What's wrong, Ellie?" 

"This girl - I think she was raped." 

Tony was about to ask how Ellie knew that, until he saw the same thing she had moments ago.

"Shit." 

Gibbs had come over to the group at this point, and had quickly picked up on what everyone was staring at. The fury boiled in his eyes.

"Get your asses back to work! I want this bastard!" he suddenly shouted.

Tim and Tony scrambled back to where they had left off, while Ellie was having trouble moving. She couldn't stop staring at the body, whom Tim had identified as Tishina Green, age sixteen. She put a hand gently on her own stomach. What if she was having a girl? She suddenly saw a different image in front of her. The nausea started to come back, and Ellie dropped her tools and hurried away from the crime scene.

Tim saw Ellie turn and run, and looked up at Gibbs. He nodded, and Tim went after her. He found her on the other side of the MCRT van, heaving.

"Are you all right?" Tim asked.

Ellie turned and practically fell into his shoulder, crying.

"Ellie, what's wrong?" he asked gently.

Ellie shook her head into Tim's shoulder and continued to cry. Tim stood there silently, letting her cry into his shoulder, and rubbing her back soothingly. He was so focused on Ellie, that he didn't see two Metro cops stopping to stare at them, until he looked up a few minutes later.

"Do you have a problem?" Tim snapped at them.

One of the officers turned and walked away, snickering. The other stood his ground.

"I've heard of office romances, but I've never seen crime scene nookie," he said mockingly. 

Tim separated himself from Ellie and approached the metro officer, but Gibbs cut him off. 

"I want your badge number, officer."

"For what?" 

"That's between me and your CO, unless you leave in the next ten seconds." 

The officer scurried off to his car, apparently not keen on Gibbs calling his CO.

"Thanks, Boss. I was ready to deck him for that comment." 

He nodded and then looked over Tim's shoulder at Ellie. She was still visibly upset, and shaking. He turned his attention back to Tim. 

"DiNozzo and I will finish up with the body. Can you and Ellie look around the perimeter to see if there is anything else we haven't documented yet?" 

Tim nodded.

"I have her six, Boss." 

"Good." 

Tim went back over to Ellie as Gibbs walked across the grass toward Tony again.

"Are you okay now?" 

Ellie shook her head.

"You don't have to go near the - the scene again," he told her, choosing his words carefully. "Let's look around the perimeter for other stuff. Maybe we'll find some tire tracks or something for Abby to analyze." 

Ellie nodded, and sniffled.

"Okay." 

** NCISNCISNCISNCIS **

_ that evening... approximately 8:00 PM... _

The bullpen was silent - as it had been since they returned from Norfolk. Gibbs had gone to handle the girl's parents, while Tony had spent the better part of the day in the lab with Abby. They'd gathered a ton of evidence, and she declared she'd need help processing it. He'd been alone with Ellie for hours, and she'd barely said anything to him. 

_ I can't just sit here and let her be miserable. _

Tim  rose  from his chair and crossed the bullpen to her desk. 

"Can I take you for a cup of coffee?" he offered. 

Ellie shook her head.

"How about I drive you home?"

"We have work to do, Tim," she said, continuing to type.

"We can pick up tomorrow. Please, let me take you home." 

Ellie stopped typing, and just sat for a moment. Her mind was reeling in a hundred different directions. It couldn't be healthy for the baby to push herself to her normal limits. She looked up at her friend, and nodded.

"Okay. I'm ready to go home."

Tim helped her with her coat, went to  retreive  his car keys, and they headed out.

** ~*~*~*~ **

The drive was mostly silent. Tim had absolutely no idea what Ellie was going through, but he was trying to help any way he could. 

The lights were on when they pulled into Ellie's driveway. 

"Jake's home," she said. "Do you think I should tell him tonight?" 

"You have to tell him sooner or later... I'm sure he'd prefer you told him before you go into labor." 

She  socked  him in the arm and smiled. 

"I'm going to tell him," she said confidently.

Tim smiled.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" 

She turned quickly and grabbed his arm.

"Would you?" 

"Of course." 

They got out of the car and walked toward the front door together.

** TBC... **


End file.
